APPE]¥DIX II 



EEPOET OF PEOF. E. W. JONES. 



Oxford, Novemher 27, 1880. 

 Sir : I herewith mail to you a brief report of work doue by rae and under my direc- 

 tion according to authority from you. 



I had the valuable assistance of Prof. J. W. Kilpatrick, A. M., now of Central Col- 

 lege, Mo., during August. 



In gathering material and handling it for making the large number of extracts, in- 

 fusions, and decoctions, which I tried here, aud many of which I shipped, on your 

 order, to Selma, Ala., to be used by yourself aud Mr. Schwarz, I had the co-operatiou 

 of Messrs. F. S. Chew and R. W. Jones, jr., both students of the university. 



Accept my acknowledgments for your uniform courtesy in our correspondeuce and 

 work, and be assured of my high appreciation of the valuable services you are ren- 

 dering to the cotton interests of the Southern States. 

 Very respectfully, &c. , 



R. W. JONES, 

 University of Mississippi, 

 Prof. C. V. Riley, M. A., Ph. D., 



Chief United States Entomological Commission. 



THE COTTON BOLL WORM. 



( Helioih is armigera . ) 



This worm is far more injurious to cotton in this part of Mississippi than the Cot- 

 ton Army Worm or any other insect pest. I believe the cultivators of cotton are by 

 no means aware of its devastating power. It begins its work here in May, sometimes 

 in June, and continues until about the end of September. Its mode of work, and the 

 great variety of its plant-food, give it marked advantages in the struggle for lii^ and 

 in multiplying. It is well known to all students of this subject that the moth of the 

 Cotton Army Worm (Aletia xylina), in visiting a field of cotton, begins at a selected spot 

 that affords moisture and tender, juicy plants, and lays its eggs within quite a limited 

 area, so that the worms, as soon as hatching begins, are there in considerable numbers. 

 This fact makes it comparatively easy and inexpensive to apply insect poisons for 

 Aletia larvae. 



But the moth of Heliothis lays its eggs over a much wider area ; the young worms 

 are scattered more sparsely on the cotton, and therefore it is more costly and laborious 

 to poison them. Moreover, during much of the time, these larvae of Heliothis are hid- 

 den wholly or partially iu the bolls into which they cut their way. It is difficult, there- 

 fore, to affect them by means of those poisons which must be projected upon the food of 

 insects, and be devoured by them, in order to their destruction ; and, no matter what 

 kind of poison might be employed, a much larger quantity would be needed to reach 

 the scattered Boll Worms than the same number of Aletia feeding close together. 



It is not to be inferred that the damage iu a field is small because the worms are 

 scattered. The amount of damage done by a single worm is astonishing. I have 

 counted 18 young bolls, shriveling, decaying, and falling or fallen, besides many 

 blooms and unopened flower-buds pierced ; all the work of one Boll Worm aud that 

 not grown. 



I gave particular attention to two fields near Oxford this summer. I think the 

 damage by the Boll Worm amounted to 25 per cent, of the crop. I visited a field with 

 Judge Lawrence C. Johnson, of Holly Springs. Judge Johnson estimated the loss by 

 Heliothis to be 20 per cent. ; I thought his estimate a very moderate one. 



Food-plants. — Besides cotton, this worm feeds on young corn plants, tender silks and 

 grains of ears of corn, peas, beans, tomatoes, and okra. They may also feed on other 

 plants on which I have not found them. 



These worms are specially fond of the blades and tender stems of young corn plants 



63 CONG— AP 2 [17] 



